A Silanol-Functionalized Polyoxometalate with Excellent Electron Transfer Mediating Behavior to ZnO and TiO 2 Cathode Interlayers for Highly Efficient and Extremely Stable Polymer Solar Cells

Combining high efficiency and long lifetime under ambient conditions still poses a major challenge towards commercialization of polymer solar cells. Here we report a facile strategy that can simultaneously enhance the efficiency and temporal stability of inverted photovoltaic architectures. Inclusion of a silanol-functionalized organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate derived from a PW9O34 lacunary phosphotungstate anion, namely (nBu4N)3[PW9O34(tBuSiOH)3], significantly increases the effectiveness of the electron collecting interface, which consists of a metal oxide such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, and leads to a high efficiency of 6.51% for single-junction structures based on poly(3-hexylthiophene):indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT:IC60BA) blends. The above favourable outcome stems from a large decrease in the work function, an effective surface passivation and a decrease in the surface energy of metal oxides which synergistically result in the outstanding electron transfer mediating capability of the functionalized polyoxometalate. In addition, the insertion of a silanol-functionalized polyoxometalate layer significantly enhances the ambient stability of unencapsulated devices which retain nearly 90% of their original efficiencies (T90) after 1000 hours

Preparation and Characterization of Nanocrystals using Ellipsometry and X-ray Diffraction

Nanocrystalline semiconductors embedded in dielectric matrices are currently under investigation for use in Si-photonics and in memory devices. The aim of a joint research activity in the FP6-ANNA*) project (http://www.i3-anna.org) is to develop and improve metrologies for the measurement of nanocrystal properties

Plasma induced degradation and surface electronic structure modification of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) films

Plasma treatment is an environmentally friendly solution for modifying or nanostructuring the surface of several materials including photoactive polymers. The detailed characterization of the effect of plasma treatment on chemical and optoelectronic properties of photoactive polymers is, therefore, of specific interest. Herein, the effect of the exposure of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin films to plasma created in three different gases (oxygen, argon and hydrogen) was studied. A range of spectroscopic techniques, such as x-ray (XPS) and ultraviolet (UPS) photoelectron spectroscopy in conjunction with UV–vis absorption, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, are employed to quantify the extent of chemical modification occurring in each particular case. It is shown that oxygen plasma treatment leads to the disruption of the π-conjugation via the direct oxidation of the sulfur atom of the thiophene ring while the aliphatic side chain remains nearly unaffected. An oxidation mechanism is proposed according to which the sulfur atom of the thiophene ring is oxidized into sulfoxides and sulfones, which subsequently degraded into sulfonates or sulfonic acids in a relatively small degree. For argon and hydrogen plasma treatments some oxidation products are detected only at the polymer surface. In all cases the polymer surface Fermi level is shifted closer to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy after plasma treatment indicating p-type doping arising from surface oxidation.</p

Solution-processed hydrogen molybdenum bronzes as highly conductive anode interlayers in efficient organic photovoltaics

Highly efficient and stable organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells are demonstrated by incorporating solution-processed hydrogen molybdenum bronzes as anode interlayers. The bronzes are synthesized using a sol-gel method with the critical step being the partial oxide reduction/hydrogenation using an alcohol-based solvent. Their composition, stoichiometry, and electronic properties strongly correlate with the annealing process to which the films are subjected after spin coating. Hydrogen molybdenum bronzes with moderate degree of reduction are found to be highly advantageous when used as anode interlayers in OPVs, as they maintain a high work function similar to the fully stoichiometric metal oxide, whereas they exhibit a high density of occupied gap states, which are beneficial for charge transport. Enhanced short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage and, fill factor, relative to reference devices incorporating either PEDOT-PSS or a solution processed stoichiometric molybdenum oxide, are obtained for a variety of bulk heterojunction mixtures based on different polymeric donors and fullerene acceptors. In particular, high power conversion efficiencies are obtained in devices that employed the s-HxMoO2.75 as the hole extraction layer. The incorporation of solution-processed hydrogen molybdenum bronzes as anode interlayers in organic photovoltaic cells is presented. High power conversion efficiencies are observed in devices based on polymeric donors and fullerene acceptors that include a bronze with a moderate degree of reduction, namely the s-HxMoO2.75, as the anode interlayer.</p

Atomic-layer-deposited aluminum and zirconium oxides for surface passivation of TiO 2 in High-Efficiency Organic Photovoltaics

The reduction in electronic recombination losses by the passivation of surfaces is a key factor enabling high-efficiency solar cells. Here we investigate a strategy to passivate surface trap states of TiO 2 films used as cathode interlayers in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) through applying alumina (Al2O3) or zirconia (ZrO2) insulating nanolayers by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD). Our results suggest that the surface traps in TiO 2 are oxygen vacancies, which cause undesirable recombination and high electron extraction barrier, reducing the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current of the complete OPV device. It was found that the ALD metal oxides enable excellent passivation of the TiO2 surface followed by a downward shift of the conduction band minimum. OPV devices based on different photoactive layers and using the passivated TiO2 electron extraction layers exhibited a significant enhancement of more than 30% in their power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) as compared to their reference devices without the insulating metal oxide nanolayers as a result of significant suppression of charge recombination and enhanced electron extraction rates at the TiO2/ALD metal-oxide/organic interface.European Social Fund (ESF) and Greek national funds via the Research Funding Program ARCHIMEDES III

Triazine-Substituted Zinc Porphyrin as an Electron Transport Interfacial Material for Efficiency Enhancement and Degradation Retardation in Planar Perovskite Solar Cells

Motivated by the excellent electron-transfer capability of porphyrin molecules in natural photosynthesis, we introduce here the first application of a porphyrin compound to improve the performance of planar perovskite solar cells. The insertion of a thin layer consisting of a triazine-substituted Zn porphyrin between the TiO₂ electron transport layer and the CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite film significantly augmented electron transfer toward TiO₂ while also sufficiently improved the morphology of the perovskite film. The devices employing porphyrin-modified TiO₂ exhibited a significant increase in the short-circuit current densities and a small increase in the fill factor. As a result, they delivered a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.87% (average 14.33%), which represents a 12% enhancement compared to 15.01% (average 12.53%) of the reference cell. Moreover, the porphyrin-modified cells exhibited improved hysteretic behavior and a higher stabilized power output of 14.40% compared to 10.70% of the reference devices. Importantly, nonencapsulated perovskite solar cells embedding a thin porphyrin interlayer showed an elongated lifetime retaining 86% of the initial PCE after 200 h, while the reference devices exhibited higher efficiency loss due to faster decomposition of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ to PbI₂